Slum Dwellers International 2023-24

Slum Dwellers International (SDI) is a unique actor that drives effective development in the urban ecosystem. SDI is the first international civil society organization created by slum dwellers and includes a global network of national federations of slum dwellers in 20 countries across Asia, Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean. SDI's international network supports capacity building at all levels of its membership, works to scale-up local action, and plays a significant role in advocacy around slum dwellers' rights. SDIs on-the-ground activities and advocacy agenda includes securing tenure and providing access to basic services, housing and livelihoods for slum dwellers globally. The overall aim of Sida's support to SDI is to have a positive impact on the lives of slum dwellers globally. Today, a total of approximately 1 billion people are estimated to live in slum areas, but if no drastic measures are implemented, this number will double within approximately 15-20 years. SDI's work is well aligned with Sweden's priorities for development cooperation, where the partnership contributes to strengthening the voice of poor slum dwellers by highlighting their experiences and knowledge at the global level. Sida assesses that the support to SDI complements Sida's portfolio of partners within the sustainable cities thematic area. The main objective of this project is to support institutional and programmatic strengthening that consolidates and expands SDI's reconstruction process. The project will ensure that lessons learned are incorporated across SDI's network and that support for SDI's critical programmatic work is gradually expanded. Currently SDI exists as two legal entities: SDI NPO and SDI NPC. At the end of March 2023, SDI NPO will cease to exist and SDI NPC will take over all operations. Sida will enter into an agreement with SDI NPC which is conditional on the complete transition from SDI NPO to SDI NPC. The agreement has three specific objectives: (1) support SDI's reconstruction process to build long-term sustainability in the organization by establishing policies and guidance to ensure accountability and transparency and implementation of key procedures and systems, (2) strengthen learning and capacity within the network and (3) deepen the network's impact in knowledge management and policy advocacy by strengthening SDI's "Know Your City (KYC)" platform - SDI's central platform for data collection on slum conditions. Sida assesses that SDI's operations, which will be strengthened under the reorganization process, clearly aim to work for gender equality and the environment, which justifies the setting of these markers as main objectives (2). Sida assesses that the Rio marker for climate adaptation is classified as sub-objective (1), based upon the project's objective 2, which aims to promote learning about locally led climate adaptation across the network. This objective will also highlight SDI's global advocacy work on climate and resilience. Furthermore, the project's objective 3 aims to strengthen SDI's knowledge platform to increase the network's work in building resilience, justice and adaptation to climate change. Since the project's main objective is to implement SDI's reorganization, connections to the rest of the policy markers are weak. Under the project's objective 2, which promotes learning over the network, there are specific outputs for how learning can strengthen civil society. Sida assesses that the markers for democracy and human rights should be classified as sub-objectives (1).